best sports car for around $30K

what do you all think is the best sports car for $20K- $30K in terms of styling, performance and of course, raw horsepower??

I have been looking at a 2001 BMW 540i Dinan edition, which is a 540i with upgraded exhaust, suspension and a supercharger- puts out around 400 horsepower and the tuners claim that it can beat a M5 in a race.....dunno about that one.......

For $35K, the best real sports car you can buy is a used Corvette Z06. Everything else in that price range is more of a luxury coupe or roadster (Z3/Z4, S2000, 350Z, RX-8, whatever). You could also pick up a used Acura NSX which handles very well and is a blast to drive.

For $35K, the best real sports car you can buy is a used Corvette Z06. Everything else in that price range is more of a luxury coupe or roadster (Z3/Z4, S2000, 350Z, RX-8, whatever). You could also pick up a used Acura NSX which handles very well and is a blast to drive.

If you really want to drive the hell out of it - run it into the ground, buy a Miata - cheap and if it breaks, throw it away and buy another. 3 Miata's = 1 Vette.
You can either have a nice sportscar and have some fun OR buy a cheap thing, do whatever the hell ya want with it and know you can replace it if ya totally $&^# it up.

As a former Japanese Car street racer doing quarter mile street races in Los Angeles...

Power and speed is not much of big deal.

1. Living in the city, you'll never bust out 140 mph...

2. Power wise... as long as the car's unfaded with a full load it's fine.... I think most V6 engine (OK, I'd say 200 horses) will be more than enough....

3. I love Automatic... I love to drink coffee while driving... Driving is a great time to relax, not a time to pump my adrenaline...

4. Safety is more important. I want to be safe in an accident.

5. Fixin' cost. I like to get mainstream, Ford, Toyota, etc. etc. cars because it's they cost a lot less to fix and also faster. I used to own a Subaru and the parts are hard to get and more expensive. It took them 4 days just to change the brake pads because they couldn't find the parts.... Now that's messed up...